Coming Home

After the First World War, there were long debates in Cambridge about the appropriate type of war memorial, its location, and how the necessary funds should be raised, involving representatives of the city and the university. Proposals included a clock tower, cottages for injured soldiers, public amenities, or improvements at Addenbrooke's Hospital. A memorial committee was convened in January 1919 by the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Charles Adeane, with its members drawn from Cambridgeshire County Council, the borough councils in Cambridge and Ely, and the University of Cambridge. Members included the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge Arthur Shipley (who was also Master…

The memorial is topped by a bronze statue of a soldier, wearing the uniform of the Cambridgeshire Regiment, slightly larger than life-size at 7 ft tall. McKenzie modelled the soldier on Kenneth Hamilton, who was an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge. The soldier marches purposefully with his rifle sloped over his left shoulder, his stride deliberately over-extended by several inches. He walks home up Hills Road, toward the centre of Cambridge, with a backward glance over his right shoulder along Station Road towards Cambridge railway station. He is bareheaded, holding his helmet in his right hand, which also clasps a rose, with another rose fallen at his feet. He carries a laurel…